This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Today (24 july 2017) is the First Monday of the Holy month of Shravan, as observed in the Western, some Eastern and Southern states of India. On this occasion, here is a very melodious Shiv bhajan from the film Shivratri-54. Chitragupta, the King of melody, has composed this bhajan by G.S. Nepali, and is sung sweetly by Asha Bhosle.
India is simply a wonderful and unique country in this world. With 22 languages, recognized by Indian Constitution ( and 122 major and 1599 smaller languages), 9 major and 125 minor religions and over 25 states having exclusive cultures, it was a wonder that Independent India survived after the British left in 1947.

India not only survived but is becoming and recognized as one of the developing countries, supplying its talents to the modern world almost for every industry. It was predicted that within 5 to 10 years after Independence, India will destroy itself with internal chaos and religious infighting. India not only proved the world wrong, but also showed the world how Unity can be achieved in Diversity !!!

This is because of Indian culture which crosses the religious boundaries. When there are killings and riots everyday in “One- Religion ” countries of the world, India is the only hope for the world with its diverse cultural diaspora. The high degree of adaptability and tolerance in the Indian Culture, leading to Peaceful Co-Existence of Religions and languages is the secret of India’s uniqueness.

Take the case of Calendar, as an example of adaptability. Throughout the world, there is uniform calendar in every country. Only in India, the Calendar is based on regional needs. More than 80% population follows a Calendar which has adapted itself to regional climatic routines and the Agricultural diversity of North and South India. The country has 2 ways of counting days. One- followed in the west,south and part of east, wherein the month ends on the No-Moon Day or Amavasya. The Hindi speaking belt of North, Northwest and Northeast follows the system wherein the month ends on the Full Moon Day or Pournima. There is a difference of only 15 days in these systems and due to 15 days’ counting system, all the Festivals fall on the same day all over the country. Hats off to whosoever devised this methodology which unites while maintaining the individuality of different states.

This year in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Tripura ( Amavasyant states), Shravan month will be started from Monday, 24th of July 2017 which will be observed as the 1st Shravan Somvar Vrat. Shravan Somvar Vrat will be observed on every Monday i.e. 24th of July, 31st of July, 7th of August, 14th of August and 21st of August which will be the last day of Shravan Month as well.

Shravan month has already started from Monday, 10th of July, 2017 which will be observed as the 1st day of Shravan Month as well as 1st day of Shravan Somvar Vrat. Shravan Somvar Vrat will be observed on every Monday i.e. on 10th July, 17th July, 24th July, 31st July and 7th August which will be the last day of Shravan Month for Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh’, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and J&K. ( Purnimant states)

This entire period will be very auspicious for Lord Shiva Devotees and almost everyone of them will observe fast either for the entire month or at least on every Monday which falls during this period. The month of Shravan ( Saawan) is considered a very Holy month, especially for the Shiv Bhakts and every Monday is auspicious for Lord Shiva’s Pooja, Vrat or Fasting etc.

Shiv literally means auspiciousness, welfare. He is the third God of the Hindu Trinity, representing darkness. Because he is often portrayed as the angry god and the God of destruction, Lord Shiv is one of the most feared and worshipped Gods in Hinduism. He is said to play a complementary role to Brahma because he is protector of souls until they are ready for recreation by Lord Brahma. Shiv has eight forms: Rudra, Sharva, Bhava, Ugra, Bhima, Pashupati, Ishana and Mahadeva; which, according to the Shiv Purana, correspond to the earth, water, fire, wind, sky, a yogi called Kshetragya, the sun, and the moon respectively.

Shiv symbolically represents the tamasic quality. This happens to be one of the gunas in Hinduism, symbolizing inactivity. His body color, which is white, denotes his purity and association with the snowy mountains. His three eyes represent the sun, the moon and the earth, the three paths of liberation and the triple nature of creation. The third eye is actually the eye of wisdom or occult knowledge. Epithets note his distinctive hairstyle; he has matted hair which holds the flowing Ganges River and a crescent moon. Shiv is said to be the essence of the Vedas and the creator of the Word. He is also the creator of Dance. Shiv’s dance of anger is called the Roudra Tandava and his dance of joy, the Ananda Tandava. He dances both the dance of destruction and the dance of creation. The rhythms he dances to are that of a world continuously forming, dissolving and re-forming.

The legend of marriage of Shiv and Shakti is one the most important legends related to the festival of Mahashivaratri. The story tells us how Lord Shiv got married a second time to Shakti, his divine consort. According to legend of Shiv and Shakti, the day Lord Shiv got married to Parvati is celebrated as Shivaratri – the Night of Lord Shiva.

Legend goes that once Lord Shiv and his wife Sati or Shakti were returning from sage Agastya? ashram after listening to Ram Katha or story of Ram. On their way through a forest, Shiv saw Lord Rama searching for his wife Sita who had been kidnapped by Ravana, the King of Lanka. Lord Shiv bowed his head in reverence to Lord Rama. Sati was surprised by Lord Shiv’s behavior and inquired why he was paying obeisance to a mere mortal. Shiv informed Sati that Rama was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Sati, however, was not satisfied with the reply and Lord asked her to go and verify the truth for herself.

Using her power to change forms, Sati took the form of Sita appeared before Rama. Lord Rama immediately recognized the true identity of the Goddess and asked, “Devi, why are you alone, where’s Shiv?” At this, Sati realized the truth about Lord Ram. But, Sita was like a mother to Lord Shiv and since Sati took the form of Sita her status had changed. From that time, Shiv detached himself from her as a wife. Sati was sad with the change of attitude of Lord Shiv but she stayed on at Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiv.

Later, Sati’s father Daksha organised a yagna, but did not invite Sati or Shiv as he had an altercation with Shiv in the court of Brahma. But, Sati who wanted to attend the Yagna, went even though Lord Shiv did not appreciate the idea. To her great anguish, Daksha ignored her presence and did not even offer Prasad for Shiv. Sati felt humiliated and was struck with profound grief. She jumped into the yagna fire and immolated herself.

Lord Shiv became extremely furious when he heard the news of Sati’s immolation. Carrying the body of Sati, Shiv began to perform Rudra Tandava or the dance of destruction and wiped out the kingdom of Daksha. Everybody was terrified as Shiv’s Tandava had the power to destroy the entire universe. In order to calm Lord Shiv, Vishnu severed Sati’s body into 12 pieces and threw them on earth. It is said that wherever the pieces of Shakti’s body fell, there emerged a Shakti Peetha, including the Kamaroopa Kamakhya in Assam and the Vindhyavasini in UP.
Lord Shiv was now alone undertook rigorous penance and retired to the Himalayas. Sati took a re-birth as Parvati in the family of God Himalaya. She performed penance to break Shiv’s meditation and win his attention. It is said that Parvati, who found it hard to break Shiv’s meditation sought help of Kamadeva – the God of Love and Passion. Kaamadeva asked Parvati to dance in front of Shiv. When Parvati danced, Kaamadeva shot his arrow of passion at Shiva breaking his penance. Shiv became extremely infuriated and opening his third eye that reduced Kaamadeva to ashes. It was only after Kamadeva’s wife Rati’s pleading that Lord Shiv agreed to revive Kaamadeva.

Later, Parvati undertook severe penance to win over Shiv. Through her devotion and persuasion by sages devas, Parvati, also known as Uma, was finally able to lure Shiv into marriage and away from asceticism. Their marriage was solemnized a day before Amavasya in the month of Phalgun. This day of union of God Shiv and Parvati is celebrated as Mahashivratri every year.

I have been fasting on every Monday during Shravan and Mahashivratri since I was a child. Our family was a staunch Shiv Bhakt and we had our own big Shiv Temple in the compound of our Bungalow in Hyderabad. My father had spent some time in Banaras studying Vedas. I too was there for 2 years when I was a small kid. Anyway, all this had immense impact on me and I follow whatever is possible in the month of Shravan.
This time there are 5 Mondays in Shravan. We will try to discuss one Shiv Bhajan on every Monday from 24th July onwards.

Let us enjoy today’s Bhajan which is very sweet indeed. This song is the 2300th song of Asha Bhonsle as a playback singer in the blog.